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World Congress of Families Leadership Memo

“A project of the International Organization for Family, uniting and equipping leaders worldwide to promote the natural family.”

FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 2017

Australians Asked If They Want To Keep Marriage – In a Non-binding Vote

Starting from September 12, the Australian government will ask voters to participate in a non-binding postal ballot of determine if they support changes in the nation’s marriage law to allow same-sex “marriage.” If the “yes” vote wins, it will be followed by a binding parliamentary vote later in the year. If the “no” vote wins, the government will not pursue change.

The plebiscite is political cover for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who’s said he won’t support gay marriage without a vote of the people (even a non-binding vote). He’s afraid that without this fig leaf he’ll lose the support of his coalition partner, the Nationals, who are strongly opposed to marriage deconstruction.

Dr. Paul Sullins, a sociologist at the Catholic University of America, published research last year which showed that 92% of those raised by same-sex couples reported being abused as a child, compared to 58% of children from heterosexual families. Abuse was here broadly defined to include physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Still, the gap is glaring.

Other studies cited by Columbia University Law School showed no different outcome in same-sex parenting, but a story in Mercatornet termed them “convenience studies” that resulted from surveys of “small groups of recruited sympathizers”.

Sullins’ work, which found its way into the Australian debate, has been denounced as “hateful,” “hurtful” and “inflammatory.” Hateful, hurtful and inflammatory are code words for “We don’t want to discuss inconvenient facts. Case closed.”

Romania Marriage Initiative Stalled

Romania’s marriage amendment is in limbo. It’s just one step away from ballot-status, but the process may end there.

Amending the Romanian Constitution is an arduous process. Romania’s Coalition for Family started by collecting 3.1 million signatures (six times the number required) on petitions for the amendment, which provides: “The family is founded on the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman, their full equality and the right and duty of parents to ensure the upbringing, education and

instruction of children.”

The amendment was approved by the Romania’s Constitutional Court. The Romanian Chamber of Deputies endorsed it by a vote of 232 to 22.

A vote in the Senate is the last obstacle to ballot status. But that’s often when things get tricky. In Romania as elsewhere, there’s a small but influential group opposed to marriage protection. The Senate adjourned for the summer without voting. Whether it can continue to stonewall when it reconvenes for the fall remains to be seen.

To learn more about the amendment and the Coalition for Family, click here.

To contact the coalition’s co-founder, Bogdan Stanciu, and voice your support or the measure, email bogdan@noptialbe.net.

Trudeau Says Abortion is a Basic Human Right – Except for Those Whose Humanity He Refuses to Recognize

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made promoting abortion in Africa the centerpiece of Canada’s foreign policy. His government is committed to spending $650 million over the next three years on that effort.

In recent meetings with Irish leader Leo Varadkar, who wants to amend Ireland’s constitution to allow abortion on demand, Trudeau told Varadkar, “reproductive rights for women are integral to women’s rights in general and women’s rights are human rights.” How does the right-to-life of the unborn child fit in this equation? It doesn’t – so it’s ignored.

The formulation goes something like this: Women have an unconditional right to abortion. (Why? Because we say so.) We refuse to discuss the status of the unborn child (Because its humanity is an inconvenient truth). Hence, to protect the child is a violation of the basic human rights of the mother.

Trudeau’s position is based on ideology supported by a dogmatic refusal to confront reality.